Lawmakers in Canada Are Seriously Looking at Crypto Regulation

A group of lawmakers in Canada is calling for full-on regulation of the crypto industry.

Will Canada Regulate Crypto?

In a recent report, the lawmakers wrote:

While many emphasized Canada’s strong regulatory safeguards, such as provincial securities regulation and federal anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing obligations, witnesses stated that governments need to partner with industry to better understand this rapidly evolving sector and enact regulations that protect consumers without unnecessarily hindering innovation.

The situation is an interesting one for many reasons, a big one being that as it stands, Canada’s present regulatory structure pertaining to crypto is considered quite stringent. So stringent, in fact, that several companies working in the blockchain or crypto industries have packed up and left for greener pastures.

It’s likely Canada doesn’t like the idea of losing business or revenue. It’s now potentially looking to create simpler rules or “softer” situations for crypto companies so they can call Canada home with ease.

Putting this aside, though, Canada is likely falling into the same patterns that nations like the United Kingdom have fallen into. The U.K. recently put out the most comprehensive string of crypto regulations that any nation has witnessed, and the regulations are earning widespread praise for the verbiage they used and for the fact that they embrace so many different aspects of the industry.

These regulations came about not long after the FTX fiasco, and it became clear that the U.K. didn’t want its people falling for the same garbage tactics utilized by the defunct exchange. Thus, measures needed to be put in place so traders (who were likely going to play in the crypto arena regardless of what rules existed) could stay safe and secure in their investments.

Canada is now likely looking to do the same thing. It’s also home of the “FTX before FTX” in Quadriga CX, which was the subject of controversy a few years back when its head executive allegedly passed away abroad and nobody back home had the data necessary to access the exchange’s accounts, all of which together held more than $100 million in crypto.

Could the U.S. Fall Further Behind?

If Canada indeed follows through on potential crypto legislation, however, the country will be yet another one to beat the U.S., which has often been a huge financial and technological leader in the past. When it comes to crypto regulation, though, the region has fallen behind.

This has largely to do with Gary Gensler (the head of the SEC) and his tactics of “regulation through enforcement.” Rather than try to carve out laws and help establish the legal arena behind crypto, he’s simply going after crypto companies whenever he can – both big and small – to make a point and strike fear into the hearts of digital currency fans.